Former Minnesota Teacher of the Year sentenced to 14 years for sexually assaulting student
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A judge on Friday handed a 14-year sentence to a former Minnesota Teacher of the Year convicted of sexually abusing one of his students.
Following an August bench trial, Hennepin County Judge Sarah West found Abdul Wright guilty of grooming and sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl when he taught language arts at Harvest Best Academy charter school in 2017. In 2016, Education Minnesota named Wright Teacher of the Year.
Prosecutors charged Wright, 39, after the victim's mother reported the abuse in 2024. Wright resigned from his most recent job at St. Louis Park High School when the allegations came to light.
At trial, the victim, now 23, testified that Wright assaulted her multiple times, often in classrooms after hours and when his own school-age children were in the building. MPR News is not naming the victim to protect her privacy.
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Defense attorney Natalie Cote asked West to sentence Wright to 12 years, the presumptive term under Minnesota’s sentencing guidelines.
“This is not a man beyond redemption,” Cote said, noting that Wright “struggles with numerous psychiatric symptoms” from documented childhood trauma.
“This is a man who used his status and his position to groom a child under his care who he was supposed to be supporting and protecting,” countered Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Evan Powell, adding that Wright also worked to gain the trust of the victim’s mother.
“He was smiling in her face while behind her back he was grooming and repeatedly sexually assaulting her daughter.”
“I am deeply sorry, and I take full responsibility for the harm that I caused and will work every single day for the rest of my life to be deserving of another chance,” Wright said at his sentencing hearing.
“I have not found you credible,” West said. “I hope you mean what you just said and you’re actually taking accountability because thus far you have not.”
West sentenced Wright to 172 months, the top of the guidelines range for a person with no previous criminal history convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Under Minnesota law, Wright must spend two-thirds of that time, or 9 and a half years, in prison before he’s eligible to serve the remainder of his term on supervised release. West also ordered Wright to register as a predatory offender.
A 24-hour statewide sexual violence and domestic violence hotline is available in Minnesota. You can call Minnesota Day One at (866) 223-1111 or text (612) 399-9995.
